The Nominees For The Game Awards 2023
The list of nominations for the 2023 Game Awards are out, with a few titles picking up quite the number of nominations. Here are the highlights:
Alan Wake II and Baldur’s Gate III both picked up the most nominations at 8 each, including Game of the Year. Nintendo was the publisher with the most nominations, picking up 15 of them, including two in Game of the Year with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Bros. Wonder.
The best ongoing games are mostly the same, but in a weird twist No Man’s Sky is not included by Cyberpunk 2077 is, which weird given it had one update and an expansion this year, but went for quite a while without any content, but hey who knows what the requirements are.
The full list of categories and nominees can be found below and you can submit your votes here.
Just note, we have excluded all eSports groups as they are utterly pointless
Game of the Year
Recognizing a game that delivers the absolute best experience across all creative and technical fields.
Alan Wake II
Developer: Remedy Entertainment | Publisher: Epic Games Publishing
Baldur’s Gate III
Developer: Larian Studios | Publisher: Larian Studios
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Developer: Nintendo EPD | Publisher: Nintendo
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Developer: Insomniac Games | Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Resident Evil 4
Developer: Division 1 | Publisher: Capcom
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Developer: Nintendo EPD | Publisher: Nintendo
Best Game Direction
Awarded for outstanding creative vision and innovation in game direction and design.
Alan Wake II (Remedy Entertainment / Epic Games Publishing)
Baldur’s Gate III (Larian Studios)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
Best Narrative
For outstanding storytelling and narrative development in a game.
Alan Wake II (Remedy Entertainment / Epic Games Publishing)
Baldur’s Gate III (Larian Studios)
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (CD Projekt RED)
Final Fantasy XVI (Creative Business Unit III / Square Enix)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Best Art Direction
For outstanding creative and/or technical achievement in artistic design and animation.
Alan Wake II (Remedy Entertainment / Epic Games Publishing)
Hi-Fi RUSH (Tango Gameworks / Bethesda Softworks)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
Lies of P (Round8 Studio / Neowiz)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
Best Score and Music
For outstanding music, inclusive of score, original song and/or licensed soundtrack.
Alan Wake II - Composer Petri Alanko (Remedy Entertainment / Epic Games Publishing)
Baldur’s Gate III - Composer Borislav Slavov (Larian Studios)
Final Fantasy XVI - Composer Masayoshi Soken (Creative Business Unit III / Square Enix)
Hi-Fi RUSH - Audio Director Shuichi Kobori (Tango Gameworks / Bethesda Softworks)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Composer - Nintendo Sound Team (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
Best Audio Design
Recognizing the best in-game audio and sound design.
Alan Wake II (Remedy Entertainment / Epic Games Publishing)
Dead Space (Motive / Electronic Arts)
Hi-Fi RUSH (Tango Gameworks / Bethesda Softworks)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
Best Performance
Awarded to an individual for voice-over acting, motion and/or performance capture.
Ben Starr in Final Fantasy XVI
Cameron Monaghan in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Idris Elba in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
Melanie Liburd in Alan Wake II
Neil Newbon in Baldur’s Gate III
Yuri Lowenthal in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Innovation in Accessibility
Recognizing software and / or hardware that is pushing the medium forward by adding features, technology and content to help games be played and enjoyed by an even wider audience.
Diablo IV (Blizzard Entertainment)
Forza Motorsport (Turn 10 Studios / Xbox Game Studios)
Hi-Fi RUSH (Tango Gameworks / Bethesda Softworks)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Mortal Kombat 1 (NetherRealm Studios / Warner Bros. Games)
Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)
Games for Impact
For a thought-provoking game with a pro-social meaning or message.
A Space for the Unbound (Mojiken Studio / Toge Productions / Chorus Worldwide)
Chants of Sennaar (Rundisc / Focus Entertainment)
Goodbye Volcano High (KO_OP)
Tchia (Awaceb / Kepler Interactive)
Terra Nil (Free Lives / Devolver Digital / Netflix)
Venba (Visai Games)
Best Ongoing Game
Awarded to a game for outstanding development of ongoing content that evolves the player experience over time.
Apex Legends (Respawn Entertainment / Electronic Arts)
Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt RED)
Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
Genshin Impact (miHoYo)
Best Community Support
Recognizing a game for outstanding community support, transparency and responsiveness, inclusive of social media activity and game updates / patches.
Baldur’s Gate III (Larian Studios)
Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt RED)
Destiny 2 (Bungie)
Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
Best Independent Game
For outstanding creative and technical achievement in a game made outside the traditional publisher system.
COCOON (Geometric Interactive / Annapurna Interactive)
DAVE THE DIVER (MINTROCKET)
DREDGE (Black Salt Games / Team17)
Sea of Stars (Sabotage Studio)
Viewfinder (Sad Owl Studios / Thunderful Games)
Best Debut Indie Game
For the best debut game created by a new independent studio.
COCOON (Geometric Interactive / Annapurna Interactive)
DREDGE (Black Salt Games / Team17)
Pizza Tower (Tour De Pizza)
Venba (Visai Games)
Viewfinder (Sad Owl Studios / Thunderful Games)
Best Mobile Game
For the best game playable on a mobile device.
Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis (Applibot / Square Enix)
Hello Kitty Island Adventure (Sunblink)
Honkai: Star Rail (miHoYo)
Monster Hunter Now (Niantic / Capcom)
Terra Nil (Free Lives / Netflix)
Best Virtual Reality / Augmented Reality
For the best game experience playable in virtual or augmented reality, irrespective of platform.
Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony Digital / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Horizon Call of the Mountain (Guerrilla Games / Firesprite / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
HUMANITY (tha ltd. / Enhance Games)
Resident Evil Village VR Mode (Capcom)
SYNAPSE (nDreams)
Best Action Game
For the best game in the action genre focused primarily on combat.
Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon (FromSoftware / Bandai Namco Entertainment)
Dead Island 2 (Dambuster Studios / Deep Silver)
Ghostrunner II (One More Level / 505 Games)
Hi-Fi RUSH (Tango Gameworks / Bethesda Softworks)
Remnant II (Gunfire Games / Gearbox Publishing)
Best Action / Adventure
For the best action / adventure game, combining combat with traversal and puzzle solving.
Alan Wake II (Remedy Entertainment / Epic Games Publishing)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (Respawn Entertainment / Electronic Arts)
Best Role-Playing
For the best game designed with rich player character customization and progression, including massively multiplayer experiences.
Baldur’s Gate III (Larian Studios)
Final Fantasy XVI (Creative Business Unit III / Square Enix)
Lies of P (Round8 Studio / Neowiz)
Sea of Stars (Sabotage Studio)
Starfield (Bethesda Game Studios / Bethesda Softworks)
Best Fighting
For the best game designed primarily around head-to-head combat.
God of Rock (Modus Studios Brazil / Modus Games)
Mortal Kombat 1 (NetherRealm Studios / Warner Bros. Games)
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 (Ludosity / Fair Play Labs / GameMill Entertainment)
Pocket Bravery (Statera Studio / PQube)
Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)
Best Family
For the best game appropriate for family play, irrespective of genre or platform.
Disney Illusion Island (Dlala Studios / Disney)
Party Animals (Recreate Games)
Pikmin 4 (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
Sonic Superstars (Arzest / Sonic Team / SEGA)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
Best Simulation / Strategy
Best game focused on real time or turn-based simulation or strategy gameplay, irrespective of platform.
Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp (WayForward Technologies / Nintendo)
Cities: Skylines II (Colossal Order / Paradox Interactive)
Company of Heroes III (Relic Entertainment / SEGA)
Fire Emblem Engage (Intelligent Systems / Nintendo)
Pikmin 4 (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
Best Sports / Racing
For the best traditional and non-traditional sports and racing game.
The Crew Motorfest (Ubisoft Ivory Tower / Ubisoft)
EA Sports FC 24 (Electronic Arts Vancouver / Electronic Arts Romania / Electronic Arts)
F1 23 (Codemasters / Electronic Arts)
Forza Motorsport (Turn 10 Studios / Xbox Game Studios)
Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged (Milestone)
Best Multiplayer
For outstanding online multiplayer gameplay and design, including co-op and massively multiplayer experiences, irrespective of game genre or platform.
Baldur’s Gate III (Larian Studios)
Diablo IV (Blizzard Entertainment)
Party Animals (Recreate Games)
Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD / Nintendo)
Best Adaptation
Recognizing outstanding creative work that faithfully and authentically adapts a video game to another entertainment medium.
Castlevania: Nocturne (Powerhouse Animation / Netflix)
Gran Turismo (PlayStation Productions / Sony Pictures)
The Last of Us (PlayStation Productions / HBO)
The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Illumination / Nintendo / Universal Pictures)
Twisted Metal (PlayStation Productions / Peacock)
Most Anticipated Game
Recognizing an announced game that has demonstrably illustrated potential to push the gaming medium forward.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
Hades II (Supergiant Games)
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio / SEGA)
Star Wars Outlaws (Massive Entertainment / Ubisoft)
Tekken 8 (Arika / Bandai Namco Entertainment)